The Arathian Wall
by Chaude the Defender
Summary: The Stormwind Expeditionary Force was assigned to repair the Arathian wall from years of neglect. Upon there, a tome that describes a possible means to defeat the Scourge is discovered. Will the force defend against an undead invasion however?
1. Chapter 1: The Setup

Chaudew: Hello, this is part one of the "Light's Twilight" trilogy I'm working on. I will only make author notes at the beginning and the end of any short story that I create. In addition, I will release one chapter a day, four chapters in all, for this short story. If you have time, please review, or PM, and tell me what you like and/or dislike.

Disclaimer: Warcraft/WoW (World of Warcraft) belongs to Blizzard Entertainment and any other company involved. Any characters, places, objects, spells/abilities, etc. that are not of my creation is theirs.

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**The Arathian Wall **

"Alright men," said the General Commander of the Stormwind Expeditionary Force. The General in his silver plate-chain mail places his greatsword into the ground. "We have finally arrived to where we're ordered to go. The journey by foot for these past few weeks from Stormwind is over."

Facing his back to his army, his golden-amber hair and snow white cloak flow with the gentle breeze.

"Behold, the Arathian wall. Long ago, our ancestors built this wall…"

Many of the soldiers from the Stormwind Paladin Brigade (SPB), Stormwind Hunter Brigade (SHB), Stormwind Mage Brigade (SMB), and the Stormwind Warrior Brigade (SWB) are all tired from their long march from Stormwind to Arathi. Nobody but the peasants who were transporting the materials was given any horses. Not even the Knight-Captains and the General Commander himself got any on this mission. Ah, gotta love the tight budget.

"…Your individual captain will tell you your assigned duties for the remainder of this month. Til then, rest well. We want to be prepared for the Scourge."

Breaking from the improvised assembly, each of the captains returned to their respected brigade where everybody in each group separated into their click and minded their own business.

Everybody who signed up for this expedition was either classified as a warrior, mage, hunter, or a paladin. Stormwind wasn't taking any chances with its regular infantry and knight troops on this trip.

Finding a quiet spot within the Arathian wall, Lucian's Paladin Brigade met for his own little assembly. In a semi-dark hall, fifty-five regular paladins, and four expert paladins await for Knight-Captain Lucian to speak.

With the light reflecting off of Lucian's golden plate-mail armor, he shouts, "Roll call. Lieutenant-Knight Abigail, Lieutenant-Knight Roland, Lieutenant-Knight Devin, and Lieutenant-Knight Elizabeth."

"Sire," each knight shouted.

"Are each of your men present and accounted for from the long march?"

"Yes Sire," all the knights shouted at once.

"Whew, good, good. Well then, I've assembled all of you after the General's talk to assign duties while we wait for our main duties from the General to be issued. Lieutenant Knight Roland and Elizabeth's teams will guard the front entrance of this wall for any possible attacks, while Lieutenant Devin's group will ensure that the peasants are protected from any harm. Lieutenant Abigail's team will setup the camp site before having the first break. Each group will rotate to make it all fair. Dismissed."

"Sire!" shouted everybody in the hall.

As everybody were breaking into their individual groups and getting ready to dedicate their time to their duties, Abigail slowly walks up to her captain.

"Excuse me Sire. May I speak with you?" Abigail, wearing her blue plate-chain mail armor and shield, politely asks. She pulls back part of her dark brown hair behind her ear.

Looking at her, Lucian says, "You may. What is it you want to talk to me about?"

"Sire…"

"There's no need for that Abigail, you know I'm not into formality that much. Come on, we've known each other since our academy days. Please treat me the way you've have back then when we're alone."

"Sure. Say Lucian, do you think the Scourge will really come this way and attack Stormwind?"

Raising his golden gauntlet to his chin, Lucian ponders about that.

"To be honest, I have no idea. The gargoyle that managed to survive Stormwind's defenses long enough to tell us that the Lich King was going to destroy the Forsaken and us as well caused one hell of a stir in Stormwind. I can't exactly blame the Elder Council to react with fear and hasten the repairs to the Arathian Wall for good measure against a possible land assault."

"Hmm, I see. Well, we paladins and even the mages haven't sensed any undead or evil entities within the vicinity. I may be tired from the long journey, but it just seems too quiet if you ask me."

"(sigh), I hear you on that one…" his grayish-blue eyes meeting her brown eyes.

A warrior clad in red leather and chain-mail armor walks up to them.

"Excuse me Sire, but the General Commander has ordered me to tell you that your presence is needed out on top of the wall for a private meeting with him and the other captains."

"Gregory doesn't waste time now does he? Of course, I'll be on my way then. Abigail, I'll be counting on you to keep the brigade in check while I'm gone for a short while."

As he leaves with the messenger, Abigail turns to look as her captain leaves the hall and places her hand over her chest. Oh how she wants to touch his short dark brown hair…. Looking up, she begins to wonder.

Finding the stairs to the top of the wall, Lucian makes his way up to the top of the wall and finds the General Commander along with the three other captains from the other brigades.

"Ah, Windchester has finally arrived. Let us begin the briefing," the General spoke.

Seating down at the small, chipped portable table, the General starts the meeting.

"As you all know, the Elder Council had sent us to the Arathian Wall to not only repair it from its years of neglect, but to reinforce it with two more walls around it. According to our scouts, the Blood elves have been receiving reinforcement from the Forsaken at Silvermoon, while the Undercity has been getting its reinforcements from the Orcs and the Trolls. We can't allow either the Scourge or the Horde to make an assault on Stormwind. That is why we're here."

"Do you think we can really handle either force with a couple or so hundred soldiers in our army?" posed the warrior in his heavy red plate-chain mail armor, with a shining red claymore by his side.

"Rest assured Sir Boltimoore, we have the mages and the paladins to sense any disturbance from the enemy, allowing us time to mobilize. Remember, we're not only building walls, we're also making offensive fortifications to these walls. The peasants can help with the fight when need be. The Council is currently working on getting more troops here in a couple of months."

"Do we even have the resources to last a couple of months if there would be an intense besieging from the enemy?" The woman with her long light brown hair and blue robe, flowing in the wind, asks.

"We do Lady Waters. As a matter of fact, there is a gold mine around here, and we're to be getting some more peasants in a few days to mine it and create a small market in the Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands."

"So Gregory, I've sent out my men to do guard duty at the entrance of the wall and protect the peasants over by the transport wagons. Want them to continue that?" Lucian inquires.

Boltimoore glares at him.

"Hahaha, you're usually one step ahead of me there Windchester. Please continue that, while half of Boltimoore's men will assist you with guard duty and the other half assist Lady Tyche with the hunting party for food. Lady Waters's men will analyze the surrounding highland for possible enemy troops and investigate the artifact in the basement of this wall."

"Well then," said the General as he gets up from the table. "If there is no further discussion about the plan, all of you are dismissed."

Standing up from the wobbly foldable chairs, each captain went back to their separate brigades. Exiting the Arathian wall, Lucian walks along the wall heading north to the end of the wall where Abigail's team has made living quarters for whole brigade. Passing by the smaller tents, he heads enters into the large tent in the center of the camp site.

Upon entering, Abigail lays down her cards and chuckles over the grumbling as her hand won her the game. Lucian overlooks one of the lower ranking paladins and whistles to Abigail's royal flush hand.

The lower ranking paladin in his brown chain-mail armor notices him and nervously says, "C, captain…"

Lucian places his hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry to scare you like that. Is the Lieutenant playing fair?" he asks as he smiles towards Abigail's way.

"Yes Sire, she had us cut the deck and has bested us four times in a row."

Lucian whistles in shock. "Lieutenant, you better start letting these boys here win, otherwise you're going to be out of people to play with," he sarcastically jokes.

"Not my fault I'm just as good as my beauty," Abigail laughs.

Everybody joins her on that note. As everybody start to settle down from the good laugh, Abigail slowly stood up.

"Sire, I do need to talk to you for a bit."

"Of course, shall we Lieutenant?"

As Abigail walks around the table, she jokes with her men at the table to keep the seat warm for her. Bruno, the low ranking paladin in brown, guaranteed her or the unlucky fellow would be tossed out. Walking out of the large tent, Abigail and Lucian start to walk along the Arathian Wall.

"I take it you want to talk about provisions?"

"Yes Sire, I mean Lucian. While food supply shouldn't be a problem with the Hunter Brigade dealing with that, we'd be spreading thin our numbers as we have to help with the Mage Brigade, now that they've just got back from their survey of the area and found a gnoll camp to the east…"

"What the hell? Gregory told Lady Waters to do that about ten minutes ago."

"Um, Lucian…mages can use portals to travel around the place," she reminded him as she chuckles.

Feeling his cheeks burn a little, he lays low on that one and changes topics.

"…Well, we're going to get some more troops in a while, but, has the walkie-talkies been distributed yet?"

"No, not ye…" Abigail attempted to say.

A portal opens right in front of them. A young gnome, with red goggles over his mossy green spiky hair, and clothed in a lime green robe, steps out of the portal. Lucian jumps back in shock.

"For Light's sake Pike, stop doing that! You know I freak out when you do that."

Pike lets out a little laugh. "Nice to see ya too. But anywho, my Lady asked me to give you this walkie-talkie. I was just at the mess hall your brigade has setup, but I got there a wee bit late as you two had just left. So I left the box of walkie-talkies with your men, but this one is especially made for you Lucian."

Pulling out a red walkie-talkie, Pike hands it to him.

"What's so special about this one," he asks.

"Glad you asked. This Razzle-Dazzle Ultra-Super-Dupper GG2000 walkie-talkie allows you to communicate with not only your troops within your brigade, but with the other captains and the General on different frequencies."

"Thanks, though I could live without having to speak with Boltimoore, this should come in handy."

"Oh, one more thing. Lady Waters wanted to meet you in the Anti-chamber in the basement of the wall."

"Sure thing. Don't suppose you could port me there Pike?" Lucian pleads. He could just as easily find the room, but rather wants the shortcut. If only the trip was a fast as crossing a portal.

Shrugging, Pike replies, "Alright, come over here, I'll use my portal to get you there."

Pike wiggles his hands as yellow glowing sparks flare out towards the portal.

"After you."

"Sure, let's go see what's going on Abigail."

Abigail tags along with Lucian as the two stepped into the portal. Traversing across the frigid ether of dimensional space, they step out of the portal. Pike steps out after them and the portal soon closes.

The air within the chamber is stuffy with the long neglect of room service. After a couple of sneezes, Lucian walks forward towards the artifact in the center of the chamber. The artifact is a book upon the altar, and a light radiates down upon it.

"It's so good for you to join us Windchester," says Lady Waters as she and two human female mages by her side walked out of the shadow and into the beam of light by the artifact.

"Pleasure is all mine Lady. May I ask what you want to discuss with me about in this dark chamber?"

"Of course, after reviewing the excerpt copy of this book on the way up here by a friend of mine in the Explorers League, I wanted you to give us your opinion about the artifact's content. My mages and I can't decipher this one old Arathian passage."

"You have quite a few gnomes in your service, but you and your followers there are human too Lady. I don't see why you want my opinion when the language hasn't changed for the last several hundred years."

"Very true, however, there are three passages so far that we've researched where only someone with nobility from the Arathian line can read it. Notably, the only proper elite with such knowledge would be you, son of the house of the Windchesters."

"Someone from the house of the Windchesters huh? Heh, I haven't been big on family lineages, but I'll see what I can do."

Lucian walks up the steps to the altar. Opening the book, a surge of power races through him and soon vanishes. Startled by the feeling briefly, he gave little thought to it. Lady Waters walked up the steps and stood right across from Lucian on the altar. She flips the pages to the passage that she was talking about.

"'The Ancient's Wrath,' by…Rufus Menethil. What is this Lady?"

"I would've told you if I knew how to read it, this passage is one of three that isn't part of the common language root we humans use. This is another variation used when Arathi was still a kingdom. Please, read the passage out loud."

"Hmmm, 'The time T'wis come when all of the land will be covered in a black blanket of death. Death's dancers T'ill come charging not only in the dead of night, but in thy life of day. Beware ye all mortals. Death's dancers can curse ye by mere glance of thy eye, and turn ye into an undead. Thy only way to seal our impending doom is to use light's blessing, thy blade of harmony, Amateria. T'ith thy light's blade, ye can control the demonic blade, Frostmourne, and together, can cast thy undead into thy light and forevermore banish them to thy realm of eternal purity.' Hmm, the rest of the passage is scribbled, he must've been in a hurry."

Lucian looks up to Lady Waters. She doesn't look back, but rather ponders at what has been said.

"The light's blade, Amateria, and Frostmourne. Two legendary swords that were said to have been myths," said Lady Waters as she thinks out loud.

Abigail takes a few steps up towards Lucian by the altar.

"Sire, you mentioned that the land would be covered in death. Is that referring to the Scourge taking over Lordaeron in Tirisfal Glades a few years ago?"

"Indeed Lieutenant, and our formerly beloved Prince Arthas had succumbed to the power of Frostmourne, the demonic blade of doom," Lady Waters replies.

"So if the danger is real, and Frostmourne exists, then this Amateria blade has to exist somewhere," Lucian conjured up.

"So where is this Amateria sword?" Abigail inquires.

"'T'here all of thy rays of the light pour down, is T'here thy blade, Amateria, sleeps. T'hen a pure soul of thy light seeks it, it shall be beckoning to have thy pure soul come forward, as man and sword meet, all are one and the threat of doom will forever be cast into thy lake of oblivion. Remilla Menethil,'" Lady Waters recited by heart.

Lucian closes the book. Feeling a headache coming on, he says, "Whatever, we just need to get this sword and defeat the Lich King to stop the supposed never-ending undead advance, right?"

"Essentially it seems so," Lady Waters comments. "I'll contact the General of our findings. Pike, please use a portal to bring them to their brigade's camp site."

"Yes Ma'am."

Lucian and Abigail step down from the altar and head towards Pike and his newly formed portal. Before they entered into the portal, Lady Waters called out to them.

"Windchester, Lieutenant, I've had a strange feeling ever since we got here that something will happen soon. Please keep your guard up."

Lucian thanked her, and he and Abigail stepped into the portal and soon found themselves back out onto the side of the wall where they were just walking down a short while ago.

"Well that was weird, right Lucian?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

Abigail blocks his path as he sets foot towards the camp site.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Must be the fatigue catching up with me."

The two continued to head back to their site. Lucian still couldn't forget the feeling of the unknown origin that surged right through him earlier. But whatever it is, a dark shadow has just been cast. That's the best guess he could think of what this feeling could be…


	2. Chapter 2: The Overshadow

…In the dark reaches of Shadowfang Keep, a black knight with a bone-chilling claymore with skulls across the handle and an eerie blue light emitting from the blade gets up from his throne.

"You say what lich!" The black knight yells.

"According to our scouts, there are multiple enemy movements on various routes. The Forsaken are diverting some of its forces to Silvermoon, while the Orcs and Trolls from Ogrammar are replacing the lost soldiers from the Undercity. On top of that, Stormwind is currently working on repairing and fortifying the Arathian wall. We must take action."

"Silence! While the Horde is a formable opponent, this Alliance expeditionary force you speak of, how long will it take them to complete the repairs and fortifications?"

"Our scouts estimate two to three weeks before the wall is fully operational," the lich spoke in its eerie voice.

"Then tell the necromancers to start amassing the troops. The Lich King has seen what we've been discussing and approves the operation. I, Grandor will lead the attack and destroy that petty wall. Hahah…guuh…"

_"Do not underestimate them Death Lord! I will give you as special task during the assault. Wait two full weeks before starting the attack, understand?"_

"Aaah, haaaah, haaah, yes O' Lich King, I shall obey your commands." Catching his breath, he looks at his servant again. "Cromra, tell the necromancers to make a special brew of fighters. We will commence the attack in two weeks."

"Yes, Death Lord."

The lich departs from the throne room. Grandor sits back down onto his throne, pondering on what the Lich King has further told him just now…

…Two weeks has passed since then. The Arathian Wall is already repaired, and the front and rear walls are erected but the offensive capabilities are still on the to-do list.

Outside on the ground underneath the arch of the original wall, all four brigades are in assembly. Gregory announces in front of his army upon the top of the front wall.

"Great work all. We've completed our objective of repairing and reinforcing the wall one week sooner than expected. I wish we could relax, but recent reports of Undead have been spotted in the Hillsbrad area. Until we get reinforcements from Stormwind, and now Ironforge, we must finish the fortification and hold this place until then. After that, each of you will get a few months in vacation time."

Some of the soldiers sort of cheer about the extra bonus with the danger update, but others weren't happy about the idea if they were to be attacked before reinforcements would arrive.

"Alright everybody, back to positions. Captains, please see me after your troops are in position. Dismissed," said Gregory.

Everybody breaks from the assembly. A half-hour passes by, and everybody is in position. All the captains assemble with the General on top of the Arathian Wall. Instead of an open sky and a somewhat broken portable table and chairs, there is a war room with a fine oak table, leather chairs, and stained glass windows.

Sitting down for the meeting, the General gets up and walks over to a painting of the late Prince Arthas.

"As you four know, there has been increased activity among the Scourge and Horde forces in the past couple of days. I don't like it."

"When will the troops from Ironforge arrive? My men have been edgy for the last few days, and my officers tell me that some of the men have seen figures from the tops of the nearby mountain ridges," Boltimoore stated.

"From the last message sent by King Bronzebeard, the troops have already been sent and will arrive here by tomorrow afternoon."

"General, my men's pets have been showing signs of fear," said the night elf, Lady Tyche, in her green and brown leather armor, wearing a full length pant robe, and a bow hanging on the chair.

"Yes, and my lieutenants and I have been sensing the undead lately too," said Lucian.

"Not to mention my mages and I have noticed higher concentrations of evil activity in this vicinity. Something's going to happen _soon_…," Lady Waters adds with emphasis.

"I understand that everybody is unease about the recent developments…"

"(Yeah, a development where some party of gargoyles almost killed Devin while on patrol last week!)" Lucian thought to himself.

"…that's why I asked King Bronzebeard to send us any of his best troops six days ago. On another matter, there's been a wailing sound at midnight, every night in the Anti-chamber, correct Lady Waters?"

"Yes General, I've investigated it for the last few days and last night at midnight, but I can't find the source of the wailings."

"Did you have one of Windchester's men perform an exorcism?"

Lady Waters looks down. "No…"

"Then it's settled. We'll have increased security tonight. Light the braziers extra bright so the soldiers can feel a bit safer. Windchester, I want you to investigate the wailing tonight at midnight. See what's going on and stop that inferno racket from spooking our men."

"Sure thing Gregory."

"Boltimoore's men will be frontline, manning the front wall, this evening and all the way into the morning. Lady Tyche's men will be on lookout on the mountain ridges and man the rear wall. Lady Water's men will provide support from the top of the Arathian wall and front wall. Finally, Windchester's men will also be at the front wall and the main gate underneath the Arathian wall. Any objections?"

The captains remained silent.

"Good, tell your men to relax while the sun is still shining bright. Who knows when the Scourge or even the Horde will show up next. Dismissed."

Each captain get up from their comfortable chairs and made their way out to the top lookout section of the Arathian wall.

On the way down, Boltimoore slams Lucian against the wall. With a quick stride, Boltimoore holds him by his shirt collar that's sticking out of his golden chestplate.

"What the hell!" Lucian shouted.

Lady Tyche and Waters look behind to see what's going on.

"Listen you fool. I may dislike you for your carefree attitude towards your superiors, but what irritates me even more is that same attitude of yours in our current situation!"

"Boltimoore, stop this at once!" Lady Waters shouts.

Boltimoore lets him go.

He points at Lucian and says, "Just don't screw this up, you got me Windchester?" Or the lives of every soldier here will be on your hands."

Boltimoore leaves and both ladies come up to Lucian.

"Are you hurt?" Waters ask.

"Yeah, the smacking of my head against the wall hurts like hell, but I'll be fine. I guess the stress and anxiety of his men got him all spooked."

"Didn't one of your lieutenants almost got killed last week?" Lady Tyche asked.

"Yeah, Devin's doing fine now and I've been keeping my men busy with more training exercises and competitive dueling to ease off the extra stress."

"I see."

Lady Tyche continued to walk towards the exit of the wall.

"Listen, don't take revenge on Boltimoore. He doesn't act that way normally, ok?"

Lucian waves his hand to get her a bit further way from him.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about that. Now if you will excuse me Lady, I got one hell of a headache coming on."

With that, Lucian walks back to his camp. Returning to his personal tent on top of a small hill overlooking his immediate camp site, Abigail stands by his portable desk and chair.

"Ugh, Abigail, now's not the time for another discussion. My head hurts like hell," Lucian whined as he grabs a cold, linen ice packet from the bucket by the door and collapses onto his cot.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Need anything?"

"Just don't let some idiot yell in the camp site, ok?"

"Sure thing," Abigail smiles.

She leaves his tent. Mustering the strength, he places the ice packet on his head and closes his eyes. Like his normal dosage of headaches from managing peasants and drunken soldiers wasn't enough, the smack against the wall takes the cake.

Whining as the pain fluctuates, he soon falls asleep. Dropped into a realm of oblivion, Lucian could feel something of a smooth floor. There is no light to find, rendering him aimless as he walks around. Tripping on what appears to be steps, he staggers as he gets up from his mounting fatigue. Feeling a wisp of air brush by his face, fear takes a toll on his senses.

_"Death…Death…Death approaches young paladin…"_

"Where are you!? Show yourself!" Lucian shouted.

_"T'wit I you shouldn't be afraid of, but rather thy Death Lord that is seeking ye out paladin."_

"Death Lord? Who are you?!"

_"Come, come seek me out. Come…come to thy chamber on the eve of midnight. There only ye can know T'hat ye T'ants…"_

A loud bang and soon after multiple shouts of cussing vibrates across the camp site. Awakening with a nastier headache, Lucian gets up and walks on down there. Arriving in front of the mess hall, two warriors are locked blade-to-blade with Bruno and another paladin. Despite Abigail's orders to stand down, the warriors refused to stop.

"What is going on here?!" Lucian yells.

"Sire, these warriors tossed a table on Bruno and I and drew us to fight with their naked blades," Abigail explains.

"For Light's sake, has the whole place gone insane? You, warrior," Lucian called out.

The warrior in grey scale chain-mail looks at him.

"Why are you and your buddy there attacking my men."

The warrior spits.

"Answer me!!"

The other warrior in red plate-mail armor looks over at Lucian and says, "Captain Boltimoore said so. He talks about how you're not doing a good enough job in protecting his men and all…"

"What on Azeroth are you talking about! I've had my men on the lookout since we got here, and more so after one of my own lieutenants was attacked by that party of gargoyles last week."

"The Captain said you say as much. He also said that if that was the case, then to stop the internal bickering would require you to duel him in front of both brigades."

With quick reflexes, Lucian unsheathes his sword and holds the tip of his blade near the Adam's apple of the grey scaled warrior. Startled, the warrior drops his sword and becomes intensely frightened as his own throat muscle could mean life or death.

"Tell your captain to forget it. I will not duel him, and nor shall you attack my men. Be gone!"

The red plated warrior also stops his fighting and sheaths his weapon. The two warriors take several steps backwards and headed back to their camp.

"Stupid fools," Bruno comments.

"Don't blame you. Now that Boltimoore has shown his true colors, I really want those troops from Ironforge to get here…" said Lucian as he places his hand over his aching forehead.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful as each man and woman took what rest they could get. Some of the soldiers felt like the meal that they're eating are their last. As the sun dips below the horizon, night encroaches over the fortified outpost. The braziers are being lit, and all take their positions. Without the aid of the moon, as it is covered by thick black clouds, every living soul at the fort is silent, hoping that their fear was all for nothing.

Half past eight, Lucian has his lieutenants meet him in the mess hall. While each of them takes a seat, Lucian paces around the room.

"Sire?" said Elizabeth in her shining white plate-mail armor.

"I know, I know, we need to settle the issue about who's where in the battle formations."

"Captain, with all due respect, the Horde could be using some undead scouting parties to scare us and wear us down and then attack us. I doubt the Forsaken would allow the Scourge to get this far into the mainland," said Devin. He cuts a deck and draws a seven of Elunes.

"I too agree," Roland concurs. The Night elf draws a card, and won with a wild Murloc, much to Devin's dismay. "The Scourge's Plaguelands are in between us and the Horde, they wouldn't risk sending in a good size army to attack us and leave themselves open for the Horde to wipe them out."

"Even so, haven't you all been having the feeling like a…like a shadow has fallen upon us?"

Each of the lieutenants looked at him strangely.

"Never mind what I've just said. The General nevertheless wants tighter security tonight, so just play along with it tonight."

They each put their trust in him, and raised no further objections.

"Ok then," said Lucian as he finally stopped pacing around the mess hall. "In case there's an Undead assault, I want both Devin and Elizabeth's teams to be at the front wall. Roland's team will be manning the gate underneath the Arathian Wall, and Abigail's team will man the rear wall. I will place Abigail as second-in-command if I'm not around when the fighting starts."

No one objects to the decision.

"Before you all leave, make sure to motivate the men. They've been helping out with the construction process just like everybody else here these past couple weeks, and are restless. If you see any of them fall asleep, get one of the mages to cast some water on them."

Devin and Elizabeth chuckle a bit.

"Alright, stay sharp. Dismissed."

Everybody left the mess hall. Each team gets to their assigned places, as teams from the other brigades assemble in place as well. Every soldier there is awake and ready for combat, but…will the enemy really show?

Lucian walks along the wall, towards the main gate. A portal appears right in front of him. He freaks and fell backwards as Pike steps out of the portal.

"Quit it Pike! I told you to stop that."

"Hehe, sorry about that Lucian, but my Lady wants you to come to the Anti-chamber to meet her for a bit."

"Agh, now? Fine, fine, transport me to her then Pike."

"Right this way through the portal."

Abigail walks by Lucian and Pike. She stopped to ask, "Lucian? Where are you going at a time like this?"

"Sorry Abigail, I got some small business to take care of. I'll be back shortly. You go ahead and keep the brigade in check until I get back."

"Of course. You can leave it to me," she smiles confidently.

"Thanks. Let's go Pike."

As the two enter into the portal, Abigail was about to say something, but only kept it to herself. The portal soon closes, and she holds her hand over her chest, regretting not to tell him.

Exiting from the cold, dimensional space, Lucian found Lady Waters next to the book on the altar. Two braziers by the base of the steps are lit brightly.

"You called Lady?" said Lucian as he walks up to her.

"Thank you for coming at such bad circumstances. I just wanted help again with the translation of the second of the three passages."

"It better be another paragraph Lady, I'm in no mood for research."

"I heard about what happened earlier this afternoon. I'm quite pleased you didn't go down to Boltimoore's level. But to the point, the passage is but one paragraph."

"Good," he said as he looks at the opened book. "Let's see here, 'Death's dancers' by Rufus Menethil. What a minute it, he mentioned that phrase in the last passage."

"It could be a reference to the Undead, or more specifically, the horrific Death Knights, but please continue," said Lady Waters.

"Yeah, yeah…'T'hile thy lowly undead can be defeated with physical, mystical, and holy powers, thy Death's dancers, or Death Knights as some call thy as of late, are harder foes to defeat. Thy unholy powers allow thy'th to move swift as the wind in battle. One should avoid thy if thy T'ants to live.' And the rest is illegible."

"Not helpful, now is it?"

"For the moment I guess, but I wonder…. Well thank you again for your assistance. I'll have Pike here take you back again."

Walking through the portal and finding himself back where he was, Lucian continues to head down to the main gate. Arriving there, Lieutenant Roland greeted his captain and updates him. With nothing new to report, Lucian decides to head over to the rear wall and find Abigail.

Not walking very far from the main gate, Lucian soon found Abigail talking with one of the female Night elf officers from the Hunter Brigade. Walking up to her, Abigail notices him and tells her comrade good bye.

"Status."

"Nothing new over here."

"No news is good news, they say."

Abigail chuckles a little.

"True, but you think sending Devin and Elizabeth to the front wall was a good idea?"

Placing his hand over her shoulder, Lucian replies, "Devin is a Retribution expert, while Elizabeth is a Holy expert. With offense and healing mixed, that's just another form of defense. You and I are Protection experts, and we can't react as quickly as they can. It's just best to wait to back them up when they're worn out."

"I see…"

Taking his hand off of her shoulder, he smiles and turned his back to leave.

"Wait, Lucian..." He stops after taking two steps. "...Please be careful. If the attack is to come soon, I…I don't want to lose anybody…"

Facing her again, Lucian comes up to her and embraces her. Shocked, Abigail hears Lucian whisper, "I don't plan on dying anytime soon and nor should you. The others won't die so easily either, so please, don't you worry."

He lets her go from his hugging embrace and walks away. Abigail places her hand over her chest and dares not forget his words for a moment.

Time passes and nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Close to midnight, Lucian heads down to the Anti-Chamber to investigate the mysterious wailings that's been scaring the hell out of everybody.

"Man, I should've asked Pike to teleport me down there," Lucian muttered to himself, as he finds himself lost in the basement.

Several minutes to midnight, he finally makes it to the chamber. He is the only one down there. The two braziers are still burning, providing much bright light. Walking up to the altar, Lucian glances at the book.

_"Did ye learn anything from it paladin?"_

A ghost appears and begins to wail. Falling down the stairs backwards from the ghost's appearance, he gets back up with little pain. Thank goodness for shields!

"Stop wailing! Who are you? And may I remind you that I can exorcise you if you frustrate me long enough."

_"I'm all too aware of ye power paladin."_ The ghost said as he stops wailing and drifts above the book. _"My name is Rufus Menethil, I've come to warn ye of great danger!"_

"Danger?"

_"Yes…the undead is approaching. Ye can't win without the Amateria…"_

"What? Augh…" Lucian cursed underneath his breath as he pulls his red walkie-talkie out. He contacts his troops to get ready, and soon after tells Lady Waters the reason for the warning.

"Rufus, where is the…what the?"

The chamber began to shake. One of the walls bursts and out comes Nerubis spiders and zombies.

"Great, just what I need," said Lucian. He pulls out his walkie-talkie again and reports, "Chamber is breached. All hands be on guard for immediate attack."

"This is Tyche. Large scale Undead force is coming our way."

"This is the General, all units on the walls hold positions. All lookout units, return back to outpost. Prepare for battle."


	3. Chapter 3: The Night of the Undead

Slaying a couple of spiders, Lucian races back to the door leading into the chamber.

_"Take thy book…"_

Lucian looked back at the ghost.

"Arrgh, why does this have to happen to me. The wave will overrun me if I continue to fight. Man, I better go get that stupid book, if I don't want that annoying ghost to bug me for the rest of my life…"

…Back on the outside, scores of zombies, ghouls, necromancers, and the fiercesome abominations form front and rear ranks. Gargoyles hover above them, and banshees are waiting behind the two front ranks with their master. A third rank behind the Death Lord await behind their master.

"Cromra, order all units to attack. Have the abominations fling the ghouls and the banshees," said Grandor. "Kill all the lowly mortals, but don't finish off their superiors."

"As you wish Death Lord. Front rank…Attack!!"

The score of undead advance and make their way to ram the gate of the front wall. A few dozen warriors and paladins hold the gate from breaking, while five paladins and three warriors went down to assist Captain Windchester.

The abominations, dropping the cleavers from their two main arms, start tossing one zombie and banshee after another. Some are instantly shot down by peasants armed with a bow or crossbow, but others land on top of the wall and started attacking the peasants and several paladins. Gargoyles swoop down and knock a few peasants off the top of the front wall, making their way to the rear wall.

On top of the front wall, the neck of a zombie gets sliced off by Devin's axe, as he casts Crusader's seal and Retribution aura. Mini daggers stab each zombie and ghoul that surrounds him and land a hit on him. Other zombies surround Elizabeth as well, but are soon destroyed by her Holy Wrath spell. Before more zombies could advance on her, she casts her Concentration aura and heals a nearby peasant.

"I hate you rotting corpses!" said Devin, as he takes a hit from behind.

A banshee lands on top of the wall and melds into and possess one of the lower-ranking paladins. The paladin starts attacking Devin.

"The hell man! Oh I see, the eyes tell the tale," said Devin as he ducks a horizontal arc from the paladin's claymore. "Geez, I have no choice but to use up more of my mana." Giving some distance, he takes a moment to focus. Devin spoke a phrase he used all too often. "Oh Holy Light, grant me the power to purify the uncleansed. Exorcism!"

The banshee screams in horror as it burns out of the paladin's body and disintegrates into oblivion.

"Crack, crack…Boom" as the front gate breaks and the swarm of zombies and ghouls enter to engage the first line of defense.

Devin and Elizabeth heard the crack and jumped off the wall. Healing their own wounds from the fall, they've joined the fight on the ground.

Boltimoore charges up and slices off a couple of ghouls' heads with one horizontal strike with his crimson greatsword. The rest of the warriors took that as an inspiration and followed suit as a few of the paladins stayed behind to act as healers…

…Running up a flight of stairs, Lucian and his support party regroup, and started heading towards the exit where the stairs to the top and the outside are located. The last thing Lucian wants is to be cornered inside the place let alone the people upstairs…

…Zombies and ghouls reach the top of the main Arathian wall, as the abominations continue to get closer to the gates and continue tossing their soldiers. Slaying a few monstrosities, the General found Lady Waters freezing a group of zombies in place and casting Arcane missiles. Casting Exorcism on a banshee preying upon a nearby peasant, the General approaches Waters.

"How are your men doing Lady?" the General yells.

"Some have been killed Sire, we can't keep up with these endless waves," Lady Waters yells back.

"Can you cast a blizzard?"

"Who do you take me for? I'll conjure one up right now. Cover me."

Slaying a few more zombies and ghouls, the General casts Concentration aura and Consecration, hoping Waters can cast without interruption.

Several more precious seconds goes by and Lady Waters's hands are covered in a blue mist. A swirling mist forms in the clouds over the Scourge army, and soon jagged melon-size ice chunks fall from the clouds and rips apart many of the Undead…

…"Damn mage, all Death Knights, storm the wall!" yelled Grandor.

A path opens in the middle of the swarm of minions, and a couple dozen Death Knights on their skeleton horses come charging in from the rear. They dismount and each casts a set of three dark energy rays at the warriors. Several of the warriors drop dead from the multiple blasts…

"What on Azeroth's…? Pull back, pull back!!" Boltimoore shouts…

…"Augh, how many more cursed spiders are there!?" Lucian yells.

"Sorry Captain, no idea," said one of the paladins as they continue to hold their position inside the Arathian wall.

"This is the General, all units pull back to the rear wall. I repeat, all units pull back to the rear wall!"

"What, the Undead have broken through the front wall? You heard the General, pull back!" Lucian ordered as he slices off one Nerubis spider's arms and spirals around to thrust his blade into spider's head…

…"Lady Tyche," said one of the male night elf hunters on top of the rear wall. "The gargoyles managed to disable the catapults. What should we do?"

"Gather up all the pets and once the other brigades get near the rear wall, we'll provide cover fire."

"Yes Lady."

"(I only hope we can live through this…)" Tyche thought to herself…

…"Pike, where's the flare gun?" Lady Waters asks.

"Right here in my pocket Lady. Yes I do."

"Good, shot it towards the Wetlands. I pray that the reinforcements from Ironforge can see it."

"Shouldn't we use our portals?"

Lady Waters gives him a cold glare. "We can't risk having them enter into the portals. We must hold the line!"

Pike took out the flare gun from his robe, and shot it towards the Wetlands.

"Ready to evacuate to the last wall Lady?" the General asked.

"Yes, Pike and I will cast Slowfall on everyone…"

…"Captain, there are just too many to continue fighting!" said one of the frightened paladins.

"Stay tough, we still have the Hunter Brigade to fall back on," Lucian replies as his and Boltimoore's party met outside near the main archway underneath the main wall.

"Devin, Elizabeth!" Lucian shouts with relief.

"Sorry if we worried you Sire, but the enemy is just too much for our front line," Devin answers.

"It's alright, I'm glad you two are still alive."

The three notice Roland's team continue to hold the line with increasing difficulty, as the power of the Death Knights continues to tear one warrior or paladin apart after another.

"Roland needs our help. Come on Elizabeth!" said Devin.

Devin and Elizabeth start running up toward Roland's party.

"Wait, Devin, Roland, Elizabeth! Pull out this instant!" Lucian yells across the battlefield.

"I'm sorry Sire, but the brigades need to regroup. We can hold them at bay for a short while longer. Please, get to the last wall!" Devin yells back as he jumps backward from a horizontal arc of a sludge hammer.

"No…everyone. Why, why?" said Lucian as he becomes frustrated.

Boltimoore walks up to him and places his hand over his shoulder.

"You can resurrect them later once the battle is over. Do us all a favor and grow up. I may be a pain, but I do so for a reason. Come on."

Looking at Roland's team and the others fighting overwhelming odds, Lucian hurries back with the remaining brigades to the last wall where it's anybody's guess if they can live through this horrible night.

"Now!" Lady Tyche orders.

Four dozen pets ranging from tigers, owls, turtles, and many in between, jump off the rear wall. With great speed, they advance into the consuming battle at the main gate of the Arathian wall.

A peasant fell backwards onto the ground as a ghoul knocks him down. Fearing for the worst, the peasant cowers there. As the ghoul raises its deadly claws, two white tigers jump on it and maul it to pieces. A couple Death Knights slice up an owl and a bear as they pass through the main gate. The Undead advancement continues to encroach upon the expeditionary force.

"Ready, aim, fire!" Lady Tyche orders.

A volley of bullets and arrows hit the advancing wave of undead. Many of the zombies, some being formerly living warriors and paladins, drop dead again.

Lucian races up the steps to the top of the rear wall. Feeling relieved that no one seems hurt or killed, he spots Abigail next to Lady Tyche.

"Lieutenant! Abigail!" he shouts as he jogs up to her.

"Sire! You're alive! But, you're wounded."

Before Lucian could say anything, Abigail casts a Flash of Light spell on him and the bleeding began to shrink and finally stopped.

"Thanks," he says as he catches his breath. "What's happening over here?"

More gunfire and zombies screaming from their fatal wounds sound across the battlefield in the background.

"We're doing the best we can to hold off the Scourge Sire." She points and has him look at the main gate. "Unfortunately, Roland and them are…all dead, and many of the pets we've unleashed are dead from either tackling too many zombies or from the Death Knights."

"The Scourge are using those freaks! We have to evacuate and retreat to Ironforge, now."

"That is out of the question Windchester!" said the General as he and Lady Waters walk up behind him. "We have our orders to hold this place to the very end."

"And die in vain! I refuse to accept that. What can WE do if we're all dead. Nothing."

"I don't have time to deal with insubordination! Either you help us out or you can runaway and face court marshal!!"

Taking a step back, Lucian takes a few deep breaths. "Fine General, have it your way…(for now)."

"Are all the preparations complete Lady Tyche?" the General asked as he approaches her.

"Yes Sire, it's all ready."

"Good, do it."

Taking a remote out of her inner vest, Lady Tyche presses the red button. Multiple explosions erupt back at the front wall and the battlefield in between the main wall and the rear wall. Many horrific screams sound, causing many to hold their ears…

…"Death Lord. Those explosions annihilated all of the banshees and necromancers!"

"Say what you stupid Lich! What about the Death Knights?"

"Several of them are dead and a dozen more are wounded and are sucking the life essence out of the lesser minions to heal their wounds."

"I see. No matter, continue the attack…"

…Several spiders coming out of the main gate spit acid at the lined up archers. Five hunters scream in pain as the acid dissolves right through their armor and skin. Abigail heals one of them, but she was too late to save the others.

"Man, this is hopeless," Lucian comments to Gregory.

"Look there Windchester. There's no more necromancers or banshees. The explosions did the trick. They can't conjure up anymore troops!"

"So there still is some hope left…"

"Hahaha. You're still on the young side Windchester. Believe in the Light," said Gregory.

The few surviving abominations, with cleavers in hand, advance the wall.

"All hunters, kill the abominations. Kill them all!" Lady Tyche orders.

"Lucian," Abigail comes up to him and whispers. "I'm scared."

Whispering back, Lucian says, "Stay strong, we can still do this, trust me. Can you still use anti-undead spells?"

"Yes."

"Good, I just had a crazy idea just now. We're going to focus our energies and pull off a stunt I've never done before."

Lucian takes Abigail's hand and tells her to focus her mind. Closing his eyes, he finds her life force and channels part of her energy with his. On the ground the earth starts to rumble as it crumbles and the cracks expose rays of yellow light from the ground. All of the Scourge, Death Knights and ghouls alike, howl in pain as the holy energy basks on them. Several seconds later, Lucian and Abigail collapse and the super-powered consecrate spell disappears.

Siphoning more life essence out of their own kind, the remaining Death Knights heal themselves again and continues the assault.

"General, we're down to sixty or so troops. We can't last much longer!" Lady Waters yells as she casts another blizzard over the undead army.

"But we got them down to a few hundred," Lady Tyche pointed out.

Lucian slowly wakes up and staggers to his feet.

"We must hold the line at all costs! Don't hold back," the General shouts.

"This is Boltimoore on the ground. Me and several others from each brigade are starting to be overwhelmed. Requesting available reinforcement," came from the General's and each captains' walkie-talkie.

"I'm coming down Boltimoore, stand your ground," the General replies.

Taking the stairs down, the General announces on every frequency.

"Attention all members, now is the deciding moment on whether this battle is a victory or defeat for us. They can't raise anymore troops, and we still have enough strength to face Death in the eye. Stay strong and stand your ground to the end! May the Light empower and protect you all…"

…Outside the conquered front wall, Grandor yawns as he's tired of this prolonged battle. Getting off of his skeleton horse, he unsheathes his rune blade and advances.

_"Do not forget what I have asked Death Lord."_

"I understand and shall obey O' Lich King…"

Five Death Knights line up and fire their dark energy rays at the base of the top wall. Several archers, Lady Tyche, Abigail, and Lucian all fall down from the crumbling section of the wall.

Looking to his right, Boltimoore charges at one of the Death Knights nearing his fallen comrades. With a thrust to the ribcage, the surprised Death Knight hunches over and falls unto the ground.

Grandor, in his heavy black plate-mail armor, appears from the main wall. He raises his rune blade and drops it down vertically to the ground and unleashes a blade-like energy shockwave. This shockwave rips apart a dozen or so zombies and ghouls that were advancing. Seeing the destruction, all the Undead stopped their attack and looked at their master.

Making a scene, the Death Lord continues to walk up to the defenders and says, "I believe I haven't introduced myself. My name is Grandor Menethil. Death Lord and servant to the Lich King."

"Wait, how can the Undead speak the human tongue?" Boltimoore questions.

"Unlike most Undead human, I still retain my memories from when I was still alive, and I know more languages then you think."

"The Light do you want with us if you perfectly are well aware of your human heritage!?" the General yells.

"Well if it isn't Gregory the Harbinger, the mortal who's killed a thousand immortals. Don't you remember me, old friend?"

The moon peaks out from the clouds and Gregory takes a closer look at the Death Lord's face. The deep scar from a long begotten blade runs down the left side of this face.

"Grandor Monfargo? I thought I thoroughly killed you traitor!"

"Huh? You mean he's the Grim Reaper of the Stormwind Paladin Brigade massacre from two years ago? Lady Waters asks in shock.

"I see my trade name has been getting around. Though I was banned by you Gregory for seeking the dark arts, it was only after I killed the men in the barracks that Gregory here bested me and killed my mortal body. Now with those slain men as my Death Knights, and the Lich King giving me immortality, I care not what happens to the living world."

"Enough!" Gregory shouts as he runs up to Grandor with his naked blade.

Thrusting his greatsword towards Grandor, the Death Lord disappears and reappears behind him and wedges his rune blade into Gregory. Gasping, Gregory staggers and falls to the ground.

"General!" Boltimoore shouts.

Abigail regains consciousness. Seeing what the present circumstances are, she crawls backwards next to Lucian along the rear wall.

"Lucian…?" Abigail whispers with fright to him.

"It looks like we're hostages for some reason. Just stay calm."

"What a pity," said Grandor as he kicks the General's corpse. "I was expecting a better show than that. Oh well."

Taking a few steps forward towards Lucian and Abigail, Grandor looks at him in the eye.

"So, you must be Lucian Windchester. How do you do."

"How the hell do you know my name!?"

"Why the Lich King of course. He knows all, and he wants something from _you_."

The emphasis on that last word placed intense fear into him. The same nostalgic feel from two weeks ago resurfaces. An aching sensation starts to wear on him.

"Wha, what is that something?"

"Oh, besides the usual "recruitment," my master wants a certain necklace of yours. I believe it's called "The Spirit of a Champion."

"What? My mother's necklace? But I can't draw any power out of it."

"Never mind that human," said Grandor as he's getting bored of this catch-up game. "Give it to me."

"If the Lich King wants it so badly, then I definitely can't let you have it freak."

The Death Lord snaps his fingers and the Death Knights advance towards the surviving defenders.

"The hell you don't!" Lucian yelled as his sloppily lunges his sword towards Grandor.

Grandor disappears and reappears further away towards the main gate. Everybody else prepares themselves for their undead opponents.

A flare explodes near over the rear wall.

Looking up, Lady Waters says excitedly, "Praise whatever god there is! It's them!"

Bruno looks around the corner of the gate and soon notices the multitude of Dwarven warriors running.

"Hahaha, we're saved! We're saved!" Bruno yells.

Several gryphons fly over head and lightning-charged hammers strike the Death Knights. The front line warriors began to charge and immediately attack the Death Knights, while the gryphons make another pass and attack the lowly zombies and ghouls.

Cromra races up to Grandor and reports, "Master. The scouts have spotted some Horde troops are heading here!"

"You stupid lich! Where are the reinforcements from Shadowfang Keep?"

"They've been cut off by a Forsaken detachment and the troops heading this way consist of some Forsaken and Blood elves."

"Aurgh. Pull back, pull back!" Grandor yelled.

_"Do not disappoint me Death Lord. You should've taken what I have asked when you had the chance,"_ said the Lich King as he sends intense pain into Grandor.

"Yes, of course Lich King," he says as he recovers from the sudden pain.

The next rank of dwarves walk up and stand in front of the surviving defenders. Priests come up to each defender and heal all their injuries.

A heavily armored dwarf in grey with purple gems on each armor piece comes up to Lucian.

"Eay, you alright lad?"

"Thanks to you, yes."

"The name's Asterian Heavyhammer. We saw the signal flare ye shoot at our way. We rushed, and rushed, and it looks like we made it in time after o'll.

Grandor charges straight towards Lucian. Asterian notices him and pulls out his hammer and shield and blocks Grandor's charge.

"Do not interfere Dwarf," Grandor grits his rotten teeth.

"Ye ruined me my mug of beer! Take that!" Asterian shouted as he backs off and throws his shield at him.

The energy-charged shield smacks him in the face, and the Death Lord falls to the ground. The shield returns to its owner.

"What's this?"

"It's called a whoop'in. This shield right here was made from the forges of Ironforge to temporary neutralize your unholy powers."

"Why you! I won't forget this!!" yelled Grandor as he quickly gets up and runs away.

Running toward the remains of the front wall, Grandor and Cromra notice the Horde troops in the distance. Cromra casts a teleportation spell, and the two escape through the portal.

The remnants of the Scourge army continue to fight on. Some of the ghouls started to turn red.

"We can handle the rest from here lad," said Asterian as he looks back to Lucian.

"Uh, thanks…"

A dwarven warrior strikes a red ghoul and the ghoul explodes, tossing many of the front line dwarves back several feet.

"What? Those blasted corpses are bombs?" Asterian shouts in shock.

The last four dozen of the Undead are all red ghouls.

"I'm too tired to cast any more spells. Anybody got an idea?" said Lady Waters, as she, Tyche, and Boltimoore walk up to Lucian, Abigail, and Asterian.

"Wait, Asterian, you're a Paladin right?" Lucian asked.

"Eay lad, that I am."

Looking at Abigail, Lucian asks, "Are you well enough to pull off another Consecration spell?"

"I, I think so."

"Good," said Lucian as he looks to everyone around him. "The three of us are going to cast a powerful Consecration spell. Everybody else needs to get away from here. I don't know if the spell's radius can contain the multiple blasts."

No one objects and the three other captains make their way to the rear wall's gate.

"Oye, you men get outta here now! I don't want to tell ye parents how ye died in this rotten place!" Asterian shouted.

The dwarven troops start to head out as well.

"I'm trusting in ye lad."

"Don't worry, Abigail and I did this a little while ago. Ok all join hands and focus your mind. I'll do the rest."

All three join hands and focus their minds. Meditating, Lucian finds Abigail's and Asterian's life energy and takes a portion of their life energy into his own and focuses the powerful mixture into a circle.

The red ghouls continue to close in on them. Advancing step by step, the ghouls notice something, a yellow aura forms around the three paladins. Soon after, the ground began to rumble. Some of the ghouls fall to the ground as a golden circle surrounds them. A dome made of golden light forms, and the ghouls cry in anguish as the holy power of the Consecration spell bask on and through them. One by one, each ghoul dies and explodes. The explosions lead into a chain reaction and within a few seconds, they were all destroyed and the Consecration spell collapsed under strain and tossed the three paladins against the wall.

Smacking into the wall, Lucian feels an intense sharp pain as his right ribcage takes in the hefty blow, and everything went black…


	4. Chapter 4: The Undead's Curse

"…Aaaugh," said Lucian as he slowly opens his eyes and feels his body aching all over.

Taking a peek around with a stiff neck, he notices beds lined up along each side of the room, a flowering plant on the nightstand next to him, and white linen and sheets on each of the beds.

"Great, a hospital," to Lucian's dismay.

The wooden door opens and in comes a couple of priests.

"Well good morning Captain," said a priest in a yellow and white rob as he looks at Lucian.

"Where am I at?"

"You're back in Stormwind. I heard what happened, and you're lucky to be alive."

"I, I see. And my men?"

"I'm afraid that many of them were unable to be resurrected after the battle, according to Lieutenant Abigail. Only the ones with you at the end of the battle were the lucky ones."

Attempting to seat up, intense pain forced Lucian to lay back down.

"You mustn't strain yourself. Your body hasn't fully healed from the battle two weeks ago," said the female priest in a blue and green robe.

Looking at his bandaged hands and feeling his chest all bandaged up as well, he couldn't believe that he was out for that long.

There's a knock on the door. Entering came Abigail in her blue and brown civilian clothing. She looks at the priests, and they them alone.

"Abigail?"

"Hi…, how do you feel?"

"Like hell."

She chuckles. "If you can complain, you're getting better," she smiles.

He notices something in her hand. Lucian asks, "What's that there?"

Abigail hands two letters to him, giving him a sorrowful frown.

Reading the first one, Lucian became furious that he was renounced as Knight-Captain of the SPB. His anger was short lived as pain was searing through his chest.

"You should be lucky that you were honorably discharged Lucian. I heard that Boltimoore learned of it from Lady Tyche about you're attempt at insubordination, and was the one who placed the charges on you and also asked for you to be discharged for a year."

"Why am I not surprised it was him. The back stabber," was all Lucian could muster as the pain in his chest persists.

As he was taking a look at the second one, Abigail takes it from his weak hands and tells him now's not the time to read it. In sudden surprise and annoyance, he doesn't argue.

Leaving a get-well card next to the flowering plant, Abigail wishes him well and leaves.

Feeling fatigued already, Lucian closes his eyes and sleeps.

Awakening within his dream world, Lucian notices that he's still inside the hospital room, yet the candles are lit and the night time breeze sinks into the room.

An intense pain surges throughout his body. This pain isn't the stiffness of his body, but something he couldn't place his finger on...

_"...Ye be cursed young paladin,"_ said a ghost that appeared in front of his bed.

Shocked by the appearance of the ghost, Lucian soon recognizes the ghost.

"What do you mean Rufus? What curse are you talking about?"

_"Ye be cursed by thy dancer of death. Now thy eve of living is endanger. Ye must find the Amateria, for only thy blade can vanquish thy curse"_

"Ah hell no! You mean to tell me that unless I find this legendary sword, which by the way, I don't know where it's at and no idea what it looks like, I will turn into an undead?"

_"Indeed."_

"Damn, things sure seem to keep getting worse…"

_"More than you already know young Paladin"_

Rufus slowly disappears.

"Wait, Rufus! What do you mean?"

The ghost completely disappears.

_"Seek allies and find thy blade, if ye are to vanquish thy curse…"_

Waking up from the dream and pulling his upper body up, Lucian's heart beat is racing. He almost screamed in fright, but manages to control himself.

"Had a nightmare?" Abigail asked, wearing her blue plate armor set.

"Abigail?"

"You've been out for a week. The priests were starting to wonder if you slipped into a comma or something."

"No, but…" Lucian attempted to say, but a sensation of unnatural fatigue and drainage over powers him briefly.

"Lucian?"

"Damn curse. Rufus is right, I need to find that sword."

"Rufus?"

Lucian looks over to Abigail. He reaches with his hands and clasps her hand.

"The curse from the Undead. I have it, and if I can't find this 'Amateria' blade, then I'll turn into one of them," he said with despair.

"What!? I'm missing what just happened but…what will you do? What is this 'Amateria' blade suppose to look like? I vaguely remember us talking about that with Lady Waters."

"Need to form a party and find it… I have no idea what 'Amateria' looks like or even means, but..if I can further decipher this book I have from the Arathian wall and possibly any other Arathian texts, I hope to find out where and what this blade looks like. Come to think of it, Abigail, why don't you come with me."

Looking away from him, she looks down and says, "I, I'm sorry, but I've been reassigned to be one of Lady Proudmoore's guards in Theramore. After being harassed by the male soldiers and my new male superiors, I can't stand Stormwind anymore. I so miss having you, but...I can't come. I have my parents to support in their old age."

Getting up and out of his bed, Lucian walks to the closet in the corner of the room, across from the door.

"Lucian?"

Searching for his regular cloths, he puts them on behind a screen while saying, "I can't blame you there, and who knows, I might die trying to find the Amateria. I wouldn't want you to die, but I have to go now."

Finished putting on his cloths, he looks for his armor set. All he found was several dented silver and faded gold armor pieces, a headband with a blue gem, and not the sword and shield he last remembered.

"What happened to my armor set?"

"…The horde attacked us after we did the consecration. Asterian and I were conscious enough to fight back, but you were knocked out from the blast. We retreated back to Menethil Harbor and regrouped before walking back to Ironforge, before taking the tram back to Stormwind. Your armor set was beyond repair, and I bought what armor and weapon I could find on the Auction house for the past month or so, but even with officer pay, I didn't have enough to repair the set. Sorry."

He notices her looking down at the ground as if she's regretting something, but he thought it was probably best not to ask. Taking out the sword and looking at the blade, Lucian sheaths it. The blade's good at least. Dressing into his dented armor set, he soon accompanies Abigail, as they leave the hospital and walk onto the streets of Stormwind.

Passing by the Cathedral, Lucian and Abigail walk south and arrive in the trading district. The lively noise coming from humans, dwarves, elves, etc. seemed so surreal. They were all happy, he noticed. Happy and unaware of what the Scourge is planning to do to humanity…no, to all of life. And here he is, a survivor of a massacre, and cursed by one of the Death Knights. Well a Death Lord he soon remembers.

"Here," said Abigail, as she hands him a letter. "It's the one I took out of your hands earlier."

Lucian takes it and reads it. In despair, he couldn't believe it. His family died in a fire, leaving him the only survivor of the family with no copper to his name.

Abigail tries to cheer him up while they walk down through the Trade district.

Walking by the Auction house, a female Night elf stops them.

"Excuse me, are either of you interested in going on a journey with me and my small band of companions? We plan on traveling around the world," said the light-blue skinned night elf, wearing a red and blue guild tabard, a blue background with a red outline of a stack of coins, blue pants and black boots, and tan gloves and bracers with spiked pauldrons. Her long blue side-bangs hang gently down to her cheeks, amber eyes wondering in hope.

"What quest is your guild partaking?" asked Lucian.

"Whatever quest each guild member personally has. The guild is but a small one, and we need one or two more before we depart. So what say you?"

Thinking for a moment, Lucian looks at the night elf and says, "The Light has made my life easier, for I was seeking for such a group. With nothing left for me here, I shall join you."

"Great, welcome to the guild, Servants of Lord Meilian. My name is Sylvanne, a druid and guild leader. May you be a warrior?"

"Pleasure to meet you Sylvanne. I'm Lucian, but no, I am a Paladin."

"Splendid. I didn't think our group would be fortunate enough to recruit a paladin from the Holy Order. Welcome."

Lucian looks back at Abigail.

"I guess this is where we part, hope the job over in Theramore works out."

"Thanks Lucian. Good luck with your journey. And, please be careful."

"You got it."

"If you will follow me, I'll introduce to you to the others," Sylvanne gestures a walkable path for Lucian to follow.

Checking the mailbox first, Lucian finds a letter, and takes it with him. Following Sylvanne into the tavern in the old section of town, the small guild talked for quite a while and soon decided to head north. Later, as the guild members went to bed, Lucian takes out his letter and reads it.

"Hmph, the last passage Lady Waters wants deciphered. Kind enough of her to request for its translation," a smirk forms across his lips as he sarcastically jokes to himself.

Reading the last passage, in horror, Lucian discovers that one of Rufus's friends was cursed and turned into an undead within two years. They couldn't find the Amateria blade in time, and still don't know where the blade can be found.

From that moment on, Lucian's fate has been decided. Having found the allies he needs, he just needs to find Amateria blade, where and whatever it looks like. According from the last passage, Rufus had searched all over the lands from Stormwind to Lordaeron with no luck. That leaves natural caves out of the question in the Eastern Kingdoms he concluded. But where is it…?

The next day the small band left Stormwind, and the long journey to solve life's mysteries has just begun.

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Chaudew: Thank you for reading this story. This is part one of the "Light's Twilight" trilogy that I'm working on, with "For Love and Honor" being part two, and "Redemption's Light" the final short story. If you have time, please review and tell me what you like and dislike. Thank you again.

Contributions: I like to thank my friend Shim for giving me character rights to portray Sylvanne (who will be seen again in "Redemption's Light").


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